Dark 'Dawson'

"Dawson's Creek" launched a slew of wannabes. Nearly a decade ago, the introspective teens quickly became templates for the rest of TV.

Now "Dawson" creator Kevin Williamson presents another teen drama. In "Hidden Palms," the tales are darker but the characters are equally prone to love triangles.

Williamson, who wrote "Dawson's" as well as the "Scream" and "I Know What you Did Last Summer" movies, has made eight episodes of "Hidden Palms" and has sketched the next 20.

While his parents always could spot themselves in the early episodes of "Dawson's," Williamson said, this time around, "the inner demons are all me."

As originally written, his show was much darker. He wrote it "on spec," with no deal in hand, before it was picked up by UPN, morphed with the WB into CW.

The show regularly will appear at 7 p.m. Wednesday on the CW, but the premiere will air on Saturday at 7 p.m. due to a Cubs' game.

"I had to change some things. It wasn't CW-friendly," he said.

Johnny Miller (Taylor Handley) is an overachieving high-school student who witnesses his father's suicide. He numbs himself with drugs and alcohol. Out of rehab, his world is rocked again when his mother Karen (Gail O'Grady), and new hubby Bob (D.W. Moffett) relocate the family to Palm Springs. "I haven't really seen a teen character's journey after rehab" depicted on TV, Williamson said.